Mechanism for disposing and concealing musical-instrument pedals.



6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

P. B. KLUGH. v

MECHANISM FOR DISPOSING AND GONGBALING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PEDALS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9. 1909.

P. B. KLUGH. MECHANISM FOR DISPOSING AND GONGEALING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PEDALS.

APPLICATION FILED APB..9. 1909.

I 1,002,282, Patented Sept. 5,1911.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

g H dl g n n I T T P. B. KLUGH. MECHANISM FOR DISPOSING AND GONOEALING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PEDALS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9, 1909. 1,002,282. Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

6 BHEETSSHEET 3.

wific .72? Java/7%? fa, it; 6.... a. JLZZA COLUMBIA FLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. D. c.

P. B. KLUGH. MEGHANISMIOR msrosme AND OONGEALING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PEDALS. APPLICATION FILED APB..9. 1909.

1,002,282. Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

6 SHEBTSSHEET 4.

l Ellllllll P. B. KLUGH.

MECHANISM FOR DISPOSING AND GONGEALING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PBDALS.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9. 1909.

Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

P. B. KLUGH.

MEOHANISM FOR DISPOSING AND GONGEALING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PEDALS.

APPLICATION FILED APB..9. 1909. 1,002,282. Patented Sept. 5,1911.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.-

I k w J UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL BROWN KLUGI-I, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE CABLE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MECHANISM FOR DISPOSING AND OONCEALING MUSICAL-INSTRUMENT PEDALS.

, Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 9, 1909. Serial No. 488,950.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL BROWN KLUGH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Mechanism for Disposing and Concealing Musical-Instrument Pedals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of musi cal instruments having pedals which may be folded or otherwise disposed within the instrument case and more particularly to pianos or similar instruments provided with interior player-mechanism in which pedals, manually-operable devices and possibly other parts concerned with such mechanism may be alternately exposed for use and disposed within or concealed by the case.

The object of my invention is to provide handy and easily-operable means to expose and assist in arranging the pedals of such an instrument in operable position and auto 1natically-operating means which may be set in operation at will for disposing and concealing them.

Figure l is aview in central vertical section of the right-hand end of a playerpiano embodying enough of the usual player-piano parts to demonstrate the application of my invention; the pedal mechanism, pump-bellows and toe-rail being sectioned upon the line 11, Figs. 6 and 11. Fig. 2 is a broken view of the rear or inner side of the lower front panel, showing closed doors, mechanism for opening the doors, means for latching the mechanism to hold the doors open and a device for releasing the latching means to permit return of the doors to closed position; Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional View taken upon the line 33, Fig. 2; Fig. f is a horizontal sectional view taken upon the line 4:4:, Fig. 2, showing the doors in open position; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line 55,

Fig. 6; Fig. 6 is a fragmentary horizontal is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line 0 9, Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional view taken upon the line 1010, Figs. (3 and 11; showing the lefthand end of the instrument and a device for assisting in the arrangement of the pedals in operable position; and Fig. 11 is a front view of the lower left-hand part of the instrument, the doors and part of the panel being broken away to disclose another view of the device for assisting in the arrangement of the pedals in operable position.

The general interior construction of selfplaying pianos and organs is so well known that description thereof is unnecessary and it is needless to more than mention the fact that in most instances the different parts which are necessarily exposed for use during operation of the self-player mechanism may afterward be concealed with various degrees of cleverness. Usually, the upper front panel of these instruments is provided with a conveniently located closable aperture through which the music-sheet or record may be correctly placed in position and the several player-controlling devices are lo cated, together with means for their conceal ment, conveniently near the key-board so that it is not necessary for the operator to leave a sitting posture to arrange these parts as desired. To open and close the aperture in the lower front panel and to arrange the pedals alternately in operable and conceala ble positions is usually inconvenient and in many instances necessitates stooping or crouching on the part of the operator. Various devices have been provided for re leasing and opening this closure and for automatically presenting the pedals in operable position but most of such contrivances, while faciliating this much of the arrangement, appear to emphasize or even increase the inconvenient features heretofore evident in the restoration of the parts.

I have shown and will describe this invention in connection with a player-piano having a pair of horizontally swinging doors for closing the opening in the lower panel through which the pedals pass in movement to and from operable position and a horizontally-movable rail at the upper forward edge of the keyboard for concealing the manually-operable controlling devices (such as shown and described in the patent to me dated Nov. 10th, 1908, No. 903,29 l) but it Patented Sept. 5, 1911.

will be understood that the closing of said opening and the concealing of the manuallyoperable devices may be accomplished in any desired manner without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

1. indicates the key-bed, 2. the lower front panel, 3. the pedal doors, 4. the toerail and 5. the bottom-board of a player-piano. These parts are well-known and may be found in practically the same relative positions in all pianos of this type. The pump-pedals 6, links 7, and side-arms 8- are pivotally supported and connected together in such a manner that they may be swung up and inwardly from or down and forwardly into operable position. 'The relative lengths of the parts are such and the pivotal points are so arranged that this swinging movement automatically causes the correct positioning of the pedals and links, as described in the patent to me dated Dec. 24th, 1907, No. 87 1,- 408. I shall hereinafter employ the term pedal mechanism when referring to the pedals and such attached parts as are necessarily exposed and concealed with them.

The side-arms 8 are pivotally secured at one end at 10 and their opposite ends are firmly fixed to the pedal hinge-bar 9. At the pivotal-points 10 I prefer to locate the axes of coiled springs 11 which act upon the arms 8 to swing the pedal mechanism up and inwardly to inoperable position.

A most important feature of this invention is the provision of a device for latching the pedal-frame against the described action of the springs 11 with the pedals in operable position combined with latch-releasing means having parts located in a position convenient for the operator to effect the release of the latch and permit the up and inward swinging of the pedal mechanism by the said springs. I have shown such a latch-device comprising the two shafts 17 and 18 arranged horizontally near the floor of the instrument, each shaft extending through bearings 19 and 20 and having at its ends upturned crank-arms 21, 22. One end and arm 22 of each of the two shafts is position as far forward in the toe-rail 4 as may be practical without weakening the rail to too great an extent, each shaft extending rearwardly therefrom to a position convenient for atachment of the rear arm 21 with the latch-releasing means to be hereinafter described. The forward end of each shaft is placed near the vertical plane in which swings one of the sidearms 8 and each upturned arm 22 is provided with an overhanging shoulder and a beveled end which is yieldingly projected, by action of a spring 23 upon the rear-arm 21, into the aforesaid plane or path of movement of the side-arm 8 so that as the pedal mechanism is swung down and forwardly into operable position the side-arms 8 contact with the beveled ends of the crank-arms 22 and press the same to one side until the pedal mechanism is in correct position and the side-arms below the level of the overhanging shoulders. The crank-arms will then be returned to their original position by the springs 23 with the shoulders thereof passing over the lowered side-arms. Each rear crank-arm 21 is connected by means of pitman 241, bell-crank 25 and link 26 with the lower end of a tiewire 16.

I have shown a hinged trigger-plate 12 which is so located at the upper forward edge of the key-bed 1 as to come beneath and be depressed by the closure 13 when that movable part is in its lever-concealing position. Obviously, this depressible plate 12 may be operated as any finger piston. Plunger 14 is located directly under and operated by pressure upon the plate 12 to depress in turn the forward and short end of a lever 15 the rear end of which extends inwardly within the piano case to a point permitting downward connection by the tie-wire 16 wit-h the latch mechanism already described.

The operation of the latch-releasing device is as follows: Depression of plate 12 causes depression of the forward end of lever 15 through plunger 14, lifting of tie-wire 16 and links 26, rocking of bell-cranks 25 and crank-arms 21 by means of pitman 2 1-, partial rotation of shafts 17 and 18, swinging of crank-arms 22 and consequent withdrawal of the shoulders thereon from above the 'sidearms 8 and release of the pedal frame. The springs 11 may then act to swing the pedal mechanism up and inwardly for disposal within the case.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have illustrated a simply-arranged manually-operable device to assist in the forward and downward movement of the pedal mechanism to operable position. A short horizontally-arranged shaft 27 is secured by two bearings 28 to one of the bellows sections and is provided at one end with an arm 29 and at the other with an arm 30. Arm 29 carries at its free end an anti-friction roller 31 which is positioned directly in the path of the side-arm 8. Arm 30 is connected by means of an adjustable and detachable tie-wire 32 with a bellcrank 33, in turn pivotally secured to the block 3& upon the under side of the keybed. 1. Pull-rod 35 is also connected with the bell-crank 33. hen the pedal mechanism is in folded position within the case (as partially shown in Fig. 7) with one of the side-arms 8 resting directly over the roller 31, it is apparent that a pull upon rod 35 will rock the bellcrank 33 and shaft 27, swing the arm 29 and cause the roller 31 to bear against side-arm 8 and move the pedal-mechanism outwardly. A reasonably quick pull upon rod will toss the pedal mechanism far enough out Ward against the action of springs 11 to permit the bar 9 to be caught by the foot of the operator and pressed thereby into latched operable position. The closure for the pedal-aperture in the lower panel consists in this construction of a pair of swinging doors 33, hinged at 37-37. I have found it de sirable to latch the doors when closed and have therefore provided catches 3838 and a co-acting striker-plate 39 for this purpose. (See Fig. 7.) The plate 39 is preferably secured upon the middle piano-pedal 40 so that depression of the pedal withdraws the striker-plate from the catches and releases the doors. The pedal 40 may or may not be employed in the actuation of other devices. For opening the doors, I prefer, however, to employ a manually-rotatable shaft 41 which has a forward crank-arm provided with a handle 42, conveniently positioned for manipulation by the operator. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) A rearward crank-arm 43 of this shaft 41 is positioned to swing in a plane parallel with and close to the inner surface of the lower panel 2. Bell-cranks 46 and 47 are pivotally secured at 55 and 56 upon the inner surface of the panel 2 by means of flanges 44 and 45, respectively.

One arm of each bell-crank is pivotally connected with a tie-bar 48 and, as these arms are preferably of the same length, the pivotal points 55 and 56 may be so positioned upon the panel as to always maintain parallel positioning of the tie-bar 48. Bellcrank 46 is arranged with a second arm depending and bell-crank 47 is arranged with a second arm upstanding so that simulta neous rocking of the bell-cranks through movement of the tie-attached arms in one direction may impart movement in reverse directions to the said second arms and so move the tie-rods 51 and 52 pivotally connected therewith. The working length of the roller crank-arm 43 is preferably the same as that of the tie-attached bell-crank arms and the roller-rod should be secured to the key-bed 1 by means of bearings 49 and 50 so that the axis of the arm 43 is in line with the pivotal points and 56 of the bell-cranks. The free end of the army 43 may rest upon the cushioned upper end of the tie-bar 48. Swinging of the arm 43 may then move the bar 48 without slipping thereupon and without being secured thereto, thus avoiding noisy operation and troublesome disconnection of the parts to permit removal of the panel.

Each door 3 is connected by similar mechanism with one of the tie-rods 51, 52 and a description of the parts connected with one door will suffice for both. In the upper edge of the door 3 I cut a recess deep enough to receive the plate 53 and the link 54 pivotally attached by one end thereupon. I secure the plate at the bottom of the re- I cess and connect the outer end of the link with the lower horizontally-swinging arm 57 of a shaft 58 which is vertically supported in bearings 60 and 61 upon the inner surface of the panel. An upper horizontallyswinging arm 59 of this shaft is pivotally connected with the tie-rod 51 and is so positioned axially upon the shaft with relation to the arm 57 that movement of the tie rod turns the shaft 58 and swings the lower arm 57 together with the end of link 54 pivotally attached thereto so that the pivotal point describes approximately tae are a!) shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 and through such swinging of that end of the link 54 causes the door 3 to swing upon the hinges 37 and the pivotal point of the link 54 with the door-attached plate 53 to describe approximately the .arc cd shown likewise in the same figure of the drawings.

For the purpose of maintaining the doors in open position against the opposing influence of spring 64, I employ a spring-latch 63, provided with a beveled surface and shoulder and so positioned in a recess 62 in the panel as to normally present the said beveled surface and shoulder above the surface of the panel in the path of movement of the tie-bar 48 so that in the door-opening movement of the mechanism the tie-bar may move across and depress the beveled surface and shoulder within the recess until the limit of the movement has been reached when, as the tie-bar will have passed above said shoulder, the shoulder may again project above the surface of the panel and prevent the return of the tie-bar from the osition shown in Figs. 2 (dotted lines) and 4.

The bar 65 is pivotally attached by one end to one arm of a bell-crank 68 and bent at the other end to form a projecting surface66. This surface faces the spring-latch 63 and the bar is so retained under the keeper 67 that endwise movement of the bar draws the surface 66 along a beveled surface upon the latch 63 depressing the spring and shoulder within the recess 62 and releasing the bar 48. The spring 64 may then swing the door-operating mechanism and thedoors into closed position. Bellcrank 68 is pivotally secured in position so that the bar 69 which is pivoted to the other arm thereof may be vertically arranged above the central part of the opening in the panel. The lower part of this bar is held within a guide 70 and the lower end thereof bent inwardly as at 71. The bent end projects downwardly within the cylinder described by the bar 9 during swinging of the pedal mechanism so that disposal of the pedal mechanism within the case may automatically cause release of the spring-latch 63 and consequent closure of the doors 3.

To arrange the several parts in operable position, the closure 13 should be moved outwardly from contact with the triggenplate 12. This will permit the rear end of the lever 15 and the tie-wire 16 to drop and allow springs 23 to rock the shafts 17 and 18 to project the beveled and shouldered ends of arms 22 into the path of side arms 8 of the pedal mechanism. Pedal 40 should then be depressed to unlatch the doors 3 and the shaft 41 rotated by means of the handle 42 to swing the arm 43, depress tie-bar 48, swing bell-cranks 46 and 47 and thus move tie-rods 51 and 52 in reverse directions to open the doors in the manner already described. While the doors are thus held open, the pedal mechanism may be moved outwardly from the case by a pull upon the rod 35. The passage of the bar 9 outwardly from contact with the bent end 71 of bar 69 permits the spring-latch 68 to engage with the tiebar 48 and latch the doors in open position. Completion of the downward swing of the pedal mechanism may be accomplished by the foot of the operator, the latter part of this swinging movement causing the side-arms 8 to meet, press aside and latch under the swinging ends of arms 22. The disposal and concealment of the pedal mechanism within the case is accomplished automatically in this instance upon inward movement of the closure 13. Such closure causes depression of the trigger-plate 12, upward movement of the tie-wire 16 and disengagement of the arms 22 from side-arms 8. The pedal mechanism may thereupon be swung up and inwardly through action of springs 11, the bar 9 striking and raising the end 71 of the bar 69 as the parts reach a predetermined position within the case. As hereinbefore described, raising of the bar 69 causes disengagement of spring-latch 63 from tie-bar 48 so that spring 64 may move the door operating mechanism to close the doors, the latches 3S engaging the plate 39 upon pedal 40.

Having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a musical instrument, in combination, a case having an opening, a closure 13 for said opening, pedal mechanism movable into and from operable position, self-acting means for moving said mechanism from said position and a device to prevent movement of said mechanism by said means operated by closing movement of said closure 13 to permit movement of said mechanism by said means.

2. In a musical instrument, the combination of pedal mechanism movable in one direction into and in reverse direction from operable position, means for moving said mechanism in said one direction, self-acting means for moving said mechanism in said reverse direction and a device to prevent or permit the movement of said mechanism by said selfacting means from said position.

3. The combination, with a musical instrument case having an opening,a closure for said opening, means for moving said closure to close said opening and pedal mechanism movable in either direction through said opening, of a device to prevent closing movement of said closure operated by movement of said pedal mechanism in one direction through said opening to permit closing movement of said closure.

4. In a musical instrument, in combination, a case having an opening, a closure for said opening, pedal mechanism which may be moved in one direction through said opening into operable position and in the other direction through said opening from operable position, means for moving said closure to open and close said opening, means for moving said pedal mechanism in each of the said directions, a device to prevent closing movement of said closure operated by the movement of said pedal mechanism through said opening from operable position to permit closing movement of said closure, a second device to prevent movement of the pedal mechanism from operable position and means for operating said second device to permit movement of the pedal mechanism through said opening from operable posit1on.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this seventh day of April, 1909, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PAUL BROIVN KLUGI-I.

WVitnesses A. Bonn, W. M. BROWNLEE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

